Second Chances
by altori
Summary: They saved him for last because they knew it would hurt him the most. Seeing his nakama die one after the other, they knew it would destroy him.
1. Chapter 1

We thought we were invincible.

We had gone undefeated for so long.

Always managing to pull through with the power of nakama.

But sweet dreams always come to an end.

* * *

When we encountered them, we thought it would just be like every other encounter with the Marines. Because c'mon, it was just another lousy Marine ship with half-ass small frys. But we were wrong. Robin was the first to get captured. They grabbed her, wrapped her in seastone, and before we knew what had happened, they were gone. Luffy wanted to go after them. He had already saved Robin once, there was no way he was letting her go again. But no matter how hard we searched, we couldn't find their ship. It was as if somehow it had just disappeared into thin air.

But Luffy didn't cry, no one really cried. Robin could take care of herself. Even if she was caught, she wouldn't die that easily. She'd find a way back to us. Then we lost Chopper.

In the town on the island we had landed at, someone was deathly ill. Chopper of course had to go help. He has such a big heart, he can't just stand idly by when someone's dying. But then they grabbed him. At the house of the ill person. No one was even ill, it was just a big heist. They took advantage of Chopper, and we lost him.

Luffy was mad when Chopper didn't come back. But by the time we realized what had happened, the Marines were gone. But Chopper, he was a great doctor, they wouldn't just kill him that easily. He'd survive, maybe even help some marines while he was at it. But then we lost Franky.

Those lousy Marines did the same thing with Franky as they did with Chopper. Some townsfolk asked if Franky would help repair a ship for them. Of course he agreed. And the next thing he knew, he was bound, every single mechanism on him disabled. This time Luffy was really mad. The Marines were picking off the Strawhat Pirates one by one, slowly shaving away at them. Luckily he was close by and Luffy caught up. But those cowardly Marines used Franky as a shield. If Luffy tried to attack them he would hurt Franky in the process. There was nothing he could do as he stood atop a hill, trembling furiously, angry tears running down his face as Franky was taken away.

Next was Usopp. Some townsfolk at the next island were praising him a little too much. And that damn idiot fell for it all. He was whisked away easily. Luffy tried to chase after but Usopp told him to stay, protect what remained of the crew, he would be fine. He'd meet up with Robin, Chopper, and Franky and they'd all come back together. What a big fat lie. The Marines had laid a trap and Usopp could see it. He just didn't want Luffy to fall into it. Loyal ass fucking idiot.

Next was Brook. They pretended Laboon was there. And broke the poor skeleton's heart before wrapping him in seastone. By the time we noticed, there was nothing we could do. They were already gone.

Nami was the next to go, captured after trying to whisk away a little extra beri. Luffy was really angry this time. He fought, rushing into battle, trying desperately to protect his navigator. But some marine hotshots appeared and it took all of our strength to pull Luffy out of the battle. Normally we would never back down from a fight, especially after all that's happened. But our instincts told us this was a battle we would lose. And well, we're people who follow our instinct.

But of course we wouldn't just let the marine's pick us off one by one. It was only me, Zoro, and Luffy left. But we would fight. We were the Strawhat Pirates after all. Of course we would fight to get our nakama back. The next day we attacked a Marine base. But they were expecting us. They knew we had no navigator and could only manage to get to the closest Marine base. They knew, and they were prepared.

We knew we couldn't win.

Zoro stepped up, told me to get the captain out of there. So I grabbed Luffy and ran. All the while Luffy was screaming and kicking, reaching out for Zoro. It took all my strength to keep running while he fought against me. My pride usually never allows me to run from a battle. But I knew, even if we were all captured, as long as Luffy strode free, he would somehow free us. He would find new nakama, create an alliance, whatever was necessary. He'd break us out from anywhere. He'd even break through Impel Down again for us. As long as Luffy never fell into the grasp of marines...

Then we were surrounded. Luffy was furious. But suddenly Ace was there. I don't know what trickery the Marines pulled, but Ace appeared before us, smiling. And Luffy froze for a fraction of a second. But that was all the time it took for the marines to get the seastone around him. I of course fought my hardest, but then Akainu showed up and I knew it was over.

The Strawhat Pirates were officially all in the hands of the Marines.

* * *

They did it in the order we were captured. I wished I could have covered Chopper's eyes when they sliced Robin's head off. The poor kid didn't need to see that. When they took him up to the platform, he turned pleading eyes onto us. As if he half hoped that we would miraculously save him. As if Robin hadn't just died. As if there was anything more we could do. But there wasn't. I couldn't bear to meet Chopper's eyes. If only I could cover my ears to his terrified screams. But I forced myself to watch. It was a kind of... duty as a fellow crew mate.

We didn't really think they would be able to kill Franky. But they did. He exploded into millions of tiny fragments, one "SUPPERRRR" just barely audible. Next was Usopp. As they walked him up he wouldn't stop babbling. Babbling about how he had conquered the world, that they would regret this, that his armies were heading this way right now. The poor fool. They had broken him. He barely registered the world, eyes frantic as the swords came down. Brook... well we're not really sure what they did to him. All I know is there was a pile of bones on one side.

When they walked Nami up she bargained fiercely, promising them riches beyond belief, and when that didn't work, kicking and screaming and fighting all the way up. Even as the swords came down she was fighting on until her very last breath. Next was Zoro. He didn't say a word. His face was stoic. He had accepted his fate. But right before the swords cut his neck, he glanced over towards us with kindness and pity and regret. Oh how he must blame himself for this mess.

Next was me. As I stood atop the platform, they forced me to my knees. Grinning half heartedly, I glanced over at Luffy. I couldn't bear it. He was a husk of himself, all the life had been drained out of him. His mouth hung open, tears endlessly streaming down his face, eyes blank and unseeing. Similar to when he lost Ace, but this time, he really did look dead. And he probably was too. He had lost everything. They saved him for last because they knew it would hurt him the most. Seeing his nakama die one after the other. They knew it would destroy him. And that's why they did it. I couldn't help the anger that bubbled up inside. But instead I looked out up towards the sky and thought of my beautiful ladies, Robin and Nami.

It was just an impulse. I'm not really sure what I was thinking. But right before my death I yelled out, at the towns people, at the Marines, at the bodies of my nakama, and at Luffy.

"The Strawhat Pirates live on!" _Swish_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

So I finally got around to writing the continuation. Things are a little confusing at first I think but then the plot kind of figures itself out. This chapter is really short... like really short but I didn't really want to add more to it so I just left it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this and the next chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated! I'll actually try to respond to them this time too~

I blinked. Where was I? Not on earth that's for sure. It felt like I was floating in empty space. I closed my eyes. Is this what people call the afterlife? Damn boring afterlife this is. Maybe it's punishment for being an evil pirate. Or for letting my crew and my captain down. The scar Mihawk gave me ached. Didn't I promise I would't lose, ever again? What a failure.

"Do you believe in second chances?"

Startled, I opened my eyes again. Who was that? I looked around but I couldn't find the source of the voice. It seemed to echo all around me.

"Do you believe in second chances?"

Again the voice echoed all around me. "No, I don't," I retorted finally, "I don't believe in second chances... but hell I'd give the world for one."

"Why? Is it to relive the good times? To fix your mistakes?"

"No, it's to tell my captain I'm sorry, that it's not his fault. That none of us regret following him."

"Your captain?"

"Luffy."

"He's dead you know."

"Then give him a second chance too. Y'know what? Give them all a second chance, so I can apologize to them all for letting this happen."

The voice chuckled in amusement. "You are a very demanding man."

"You can blame that on the damn Marines."

"Very well."

Then everything turned black. I don't know what the fuck happened but suddenly all my memories began flashing before me. Wasn't this supposed to happen _before_ you died? Then everything was black again.


	3. Chapter 3

"The Strawhat Pirates live on!"

Faintly I heard someone yell that. Then it was silent. Everything around me was dark, so dark. I don't really remember what had happened, all I know is that I was crying. I was crying and I felt so empty inside and everything _hurt._ My body was screaming at me to fight because I was going to die. But I couldn't find the energy to fight. I couldn't even find the energy to move. And the harder I tried to think about it, I realized, I don't even remember who it is that I needed to fight or why.

In all the darkness a voice finally rang out. It was quiet, hushed, and far away, but I heard each word clearly.

"We're not going to kill you. We can't have you doing what Gol D. Roger did. So we're going to keep you alive and make a statement out of you to all the pirates. _This is what happens when you oppose the Marines._ "

Pirates? Marines?

Oh right.

I was a pirate wasn't I?

Strawhat Pirate Luffy. The one who would one day be the Pirate King. I had a ship and a crew of nakama-

And then it hurt too much to keep thinking.

The voice said that it would keep me alive. So why did I feel like I was already dead?

After that there were some more noises, more shouting. They took me a lot of different places, made me stand, made me kneel. Then people would cheer and shout. Everything passed as a blur. I heard noises and saw colors, but I couldn't distinguish much of it. And I didn't really have the motivation to try either. I was just tired. So tired. I wanted to lie down and sleep. Sleep and never wake up again. Let the blackness take me.

When they finally let me rest, I immediately collapsed. That night I dreamt of Ace and Sabo. We were holding our sake cups, the ones we used to declare our brotherhood. We were all grinning and laughing, acting like goofballs. But when it was time to drink, they didn't drink. Suddenly blood began to pour from Sabo's head and his skin looked as if it had been burned. On Ace's chest, a hole appeared, blood pouring from the wound and dripping from his mouth.

"Luffy..." they drawled together, reaching out for me with bloody hands, "Why didn't you save us? Now look at us... It's all your fault. Luffy why... You traitor, you are no brother of ours."

Tears flowed from my eyes as I woke up. Huh? Why was I crying? I was dreaming... Dreaming about...huh? What had I been dreaming about?

"Breakfast," a guard mumbled as he set down a tray with a clatter. The noise drew my attention. I glanced at the tray of food, quickly noticing the obvious lack of meat and the tiny portions. But for some reason, it didn't really bother me, in fact, I wasn't hungry at all. Disinterested in the food, my attention turned towards the person who had brought the food.

"Hey Ace... We're still brothers aren't we?"

"Fucking insane brat," the guard spat. I ignored the snide remark. Ace was probably just a little irritated. He usually sounded pretty fed up with my nagging.

"But I know" I murmured with a small smile, "That you really love me."

"No one fucking loves you. 'Cause we killed them all," the guard snarled, grabbing the bars. "Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook... We killed them. All of them."

"Shishishi, what are you talking about Ace?" I laughed, sitting against the wall, "Even if you're Ace, you're not brave enough to kill anyone, not even with Sabo's help."

"Hmph, you're insane you know," the guard grumbled, leaning against the bars. "Ace, Sabo, the Strawhat Pirates... We really took everything from you huh."

I heard the guard respond, but I didn't register what he said. As I sat against the wall in that cold cell, my vision began to blur. Closing my eyes, I felt the soft warmth of tears running down my cheeks. Pulling my knees to my chest I sat and cried and cried and cried, trying to ease the never ending pain inside even as the reason behind the pain escaped my mind.

The sound of the door opening drew me out of my trance. A group of Marines stood in front of me. They ordered me to stand, undoing my shackles. In that moment, I wasn't even sure what I was doing. My body just started moving on its own. I began lashing out, fighting like my life was on the line. Perhaps it was from the seastone or just from sitting still for so long, but they managed to bring me under control again.

They cuffed me and brought me to a cold room. All I remember from that room was the bright blinding white lights. And the pain. It felt like they were cutting me open. People were talking in hushed voices, passing around knives, holding me down. All I remember was the screaming and the lights. The bright lights. The pain. The bright white lights. The excruciating pain.

The next I remember was waking up again in the dark cell. The seastone shackles were gone. Heck even the bars weren't seastone. How easy it would be for me to break out. What foolish captors. But even as I gazed at the bars, I couldn't even draw the energy to lift my arm.

For days, or at least I think it was days, I sat there, unmoving. They threw food at me but I couldn't be bothered to eat it. The weakness I felt in my body just grew stronger with each passing moment. I didn't think about anything. Faintly I remembered how I had passed days in pain and suffering. But now I felt... nothing. What had I been suffering over? It was probably just something stupid. I mean what was there to suffer over in this beautiful room?

A long time passed and they came back. The took me out to stand in front of hundred and hundreds of people. The people cheered and threw gifts up at me. I was pretty popular huh? So this is what celebrities felt like. A low chuckle rose out of my chest. It sounded distant and foreign.

But I simply smiled as a strange joyful feeling bubbled up inside.


End file.
